Pestilens Thread, tactics, builds, advice

[James McPherson]

*copied over from my post on the Corruptor 1 on 1 thread*

Plague Chariots

The plague furnace has a prayer which will give the monks an extra pile in and attack each time one dies too which helps, not as good as a save but still useful. Bless with Filth is the better one for offence, and Rabid Fever for defence

If you have two plague furnaces, keeping them within 5.9 ins of each other, will do 2 things,

It will create a bubble for +2 bravery to ALL PESTILENS units within 5" with the Icon of the Horned Rat buff, pretty nice especially against sniping spells on your Corruptor which test against bravery.

It will also mean nobody will go between that gap to attack because they risk getting pile ins from both Plague Furnaces (as well as whatever you put between them 3ins back, Ie a unit of 20 PMonks. Also the rusty wheels and spikes attack will be 4D6 if you get enough Monks (10) surrounding each one. So I would put Lord Skrolk and the Corruptor between them if you want to make a deathstar, or if you want to safely 'carry' a unit onto an objective then use it as a Trojan horse.

 

something like this

                  xx                                     xx     ^                                        
                  PF          <5.9ins>            PF   2.9ins
                  xx                                     xx     v
                 PM              PM                PM  

or

                  xx                                     xx     ^
                  PF          <5.9ins>            PF   2.9ins
                  xx                                     xx     v
                 PM          Corruptor          PM  

 

If you get enough Monks surrounding the PF, (its possible to get about 32 if you go all the way around 360' with two layers) then the PF can move up to 15" effectively turning it into a very fast moving chariot and have a chance at hitting your enemy (who will be 24" away) on turn 1 if you roll a 9 or more to charge, before they get a chance to whittle down the Plague Censers effectiveness.

Getting off 2x D6 mortal wounds and 4d6 rusty wheels and spikes that hit on a 2+ (it counts by how many Monks surround the PFurnace AT THE START of your MOVEMENT PHASE ) could do on a turn 1 charge could be devastating!

This is where it falls down though, the PMonk's wouldn't be able to keep up with them, but, good news folks, the Corruptor WOULD!

Getting this charge off on turn 1 by rolling a 9 is pretty risky and only the brave would go for it, but ask yourself what a sneaky Skaven player would do? - and I think this may be more in line ......

As you are taking so many formations, you can drop your entire Virulent Procession in one deployment, pretty much ensuring you finish deployment first and get the choice of who takes first turn. Let your opponent come out towards you, give him the first turn. He will come towards you, (also bringing himself into range of your Plagueclaws) then you can get your turn 1 charge off guaranteed. He probably won't be expecting those Plague Furnaces to be so fast moving and you can just make mincemeat of his centre line and whatever he throws at you when lining up opposite your deployment drop. 

 

Scenery Rant

Then this brings us on to the one major caveat you will find as a Horde & Pestilens player, scenery is a ******! Scenery plays havoc with your deployment and movement.

The Virulent Procession rule about the scenery becoming infested will help capture objectives though and is none too shabby and will help dislodge heavily fortified positions. <scenery rant over!>

 

Finding quarters in every pocket

If you take crown of conquest as your arcane item, then you can put inspiring presence out twice in a turn from your Corruptor to mitigate battleshock, as those 20 man units will die fast once battleshock sets in. Durthu killed 12 of my monks in one turn last game. Seeing as you have 3 formations, you can take 2 extra items, so unless anyone tells you otherwise you can spam up Crown of Conquest, take it on the Plague Furnaces as they have 12 wounds and count as heros, and make all four of your PM units immune to Battleshock each turn. Nice!

The P.Censer Bearers work nice as a supporting unit to get through heavily armoured units and to reach out from behind, on a 32mm base with a 2" reach they have a very long reach so can hit from 2 ranks back, with their poisonous fumes attack too they can help whittle down high armour targets, (with plaguesmog congregation it gets boosted from 1 mortal wound on a 4+ to D3 on a 2+)

 

Summary

It's really all about rolling the 6's with these guys though, so no matter how well prepared or tactically astute you are, the success of your day will come down to how many times you can roll a 6! The Verminlord Corruptors Plague Spell is a great example of that, if you can get that Alpha strike charge off on turn 1, he will be in and amongst their battle lines on turn 1 spreading disease, panic and confusion, and rat infestations with the battalion formation special rule! Glorious!

 

 

[Percivael]

What weapons to go with Plague Monks? I've read somewhere that Foetid Blades is statistically better with the re roll ALL failed hit rolls (a lot better than Blood Reavers and other paired weapons) but the Woe-Stave has the extra reach. I personally prefer the Foetid Blades on a purely aesthetic level. The Woe Staves are nice and they are an iconic symbol of the Plague Monk going right back to the first Skaven miniatures from the 80s, but I just think they make the monk look too static with his staff planted in the ground. The Foetid Blades however, encapsulate the rabid monk in a stabbing frenzy, carrying what appear to be a collection of large kitchen knives and cleavers! I'd be interested to know what other people have done/think?

[Shane]

Always ran duel knives. The reroll to hit is super important. And remember you can run both musicians and standards in a single unit. 

[James McPherson]

Foetid blades are more reliable, Woe Staves give you more of a chance to roll 6's which is more appealing to me

I built my first unit of 40 with foetid blades but then made a second unit of 40 with woe staves. I've played one or two games with both so far but am still early days.

The re-rolls to hit is nice with the foetid blades, but also so is maximising attacks, usually I can't get all of them within 1" , maybe end up with a frontage of 5 or 10 if I'm lucky as space is so limited usually. There is always terrain getting in the way and other units.

And I usually use the Corruptor's command ability to add an extra attack to ALL melee weapons, so by arming them differently you get 2 extra attacks on the woe stave armed monks (one for the foetid blade, one for the woe stave) making 6 attacks each in total each on the charge for the guys armed with woe staves. As opposed to 4 with the Foetid blades.

Add that to the fact you can get 3 or 4 ranks in instead of 2 and you are really increasing your attacks a lot more, they hit on the same roll too, a 4+. The staves wound on a 5+ as opposed to the foetid blades on a 4+, but at that point it really doesn't bother me what I roll to wound as I am trying for 6's to wound  (and with Bless with Filth from the plague furnace and Wither from a plague priest you will get re-rolls to wound and +1 to wound) to activate those sweet sweet important -1 rending hits that the bale chimes from your musician gives.

So I'd be inclined to take both where possible, or decide if you need rend more than you need reliability , and how cramped for space you are likely to be

 

 

[Percivael]

I think you've convinced me to run both James! More variety for painting too. I think it's amazing we can have both standards and musicians Shane, but the wording is quite specific that we definitely can isn't it. Looks great too, you can imagine this horde replete with tattered banners, clanging bells and banging gongs! Are Plague Monks alone in AoS in being able to take multiple standards/musicians?

[Shane]

@Percivael There are a few units that can but it is more in the minority. 

It's a must for the 'ol Monks. 

[adreal]

I have yet to play a matched play game,  but being creative (more that nobody will care if I use the model as a plague priest on foot) with the grey seer means I got 1000pts out of the virulent horde box set.

 

One thing I always thought would be fun is a large (20 strong) units of plague censor bearers, granted they don't re-roll to hit like the monks, but getting a extra attack from the verminlord cold make them very nasty, and they do have a rend, plus the extra maybe mortal wounds. It's something I'm toying with in the old think tank, and if people do shoot at them, my verminlord and plague monks aren't getting shot, which is a good thing

[Nubgan]

Sounds like I need to get hold of the Pestilans book for these formations! I am getting horribly tempted to get this double up of furnaces too and with the £50 starter box now it actually seems silly not to do so as I would like another Plagueclaw and more monks anyway.

On the formation front guys. I have the one from the starter box and the rather basic one thats a freebie on the app. But you say the ones worth running are definately in the Pestilens book? Having not got one of these books yet, are they quite fluffy books too? Would be nice to read about smelly, fly sodden antics

[James McPherson]

On 01/08/2016 at 0:51 AM, adreal said:

I have yet to play a matched play game,  but being creative (more that nobody will care if I use the model as a plague priest on foot) with the grey seer means I got 1000pts out of the virulent horde box set.

 

One thing I always thought would be fun is a large (20 strong) units of plague censor bearers, granted they don't re-roll to hit like the monks, but getting a extra attack from the verminlord cold make them very nasty, and they do have a rend, plus the extra maybe mortal wounds. It's something I'm toying with in the old think tank, and if people do shoot at them, my verminlord and plague monks aren't getting shot, which is a good thing

I have 20 of them, was going to test out a Plaguesmog Congregation in a game some time to get that sweet 2+ D3 mortal wounds buff on their poisonous fumes ability. If you keep them close to plague monks they also get buffs. I want to use them as a shield wall, or to sit on objectives, their 32mm bases and 2" reach give them a big coverage, perfect for getting in the way of stuff . I haven't played enough games yet with them but plan on getting plenty of game time with them in future games. I bought that sweet old metal plague lord model with the censer to run as a plague priest alongside them as well.

 

On 01/08/2016 at 9:03 AM, Nubgan said:

Sounds like I need to get hold of the Pestilans book for these formations! I am getting horribly tempted to get this double up of furnaces too and with the £50 starter box now it actually seems silly not to do so as I would like another Plagueclaw and more monks anyway.

On the formation front guys. I have the one from the starter box and the rather basic one thats a freebie on the app. But you say the ones worth running are definately in the Pestilens book? Having not got one of these books yet, are they quite fluffy books too? Would be nice to read about smelly, fly sodden antics

Well the formations are also in the app if you download the content pack it'd be about £3 and will give you a few Pestilens Battleplans from the book and the Formations.

The free one you are talking about, Pestilent Clawpack is pretty nice too, it gives you double damage on attacks when you roll a 6 which is nothing to be sniffed at, and you can choose a piece of scenery at the start of the game within 13" and it's rat infested for the rest of the game, and you get immune to battleshock if you are on it, which is also pretty sweet for defending objectives and mitigating battleshock..

But yeah the book is defo worth it, its beautiful, I haven't read all the fluff and stuff but it has some awesome artwork and is a thing of beauty.

With the two Furnace thing, I find one gets taken out quite quickly and you need the 'Bless with Filth' prayer to get re-rolls to wound ideally to keep your Monks kill rate high or put it on your catapult. Its quite a big commitment, but I also bought 2x starter sets because I wanted 3 plague claws for the Foulrain Congregation, so I figured why not make 2x plague furnaces. They are one of the only things in your army with a save too, so with their 4+ save and 12 wounds each, act as a vital anvil unit .

 

[Smart-Clever Rat]

Why not use a cong of filth for the rerolled charges and 6+ save to everything?

[James McPherson]

3 hours ago, Smart-Clever Rat said:

Why not use a cong of filth for the rerolled charges and 6+ save to everything?

yeah I use it every game, the ward save helps loads.

[Smart-Clever Rat]

3 hours ago, James McPherson said:

yeah I use it every game, the ward save helps loads.

Didn't help me much. Guy was rolling:

frosty on stonehorn 

tusk

2 mournfang

he also used the destruction allegiance stuff.

I killed the mournfang and left the tusk with one wound before he charged the stronghold (this weeks battle plan) with frosty (after annihilating half my monks). Took out my plague law before I even got to shoot let alone move. 

Appearently he just got back from winning a tournament as well.

he told me to go clawpack next time instead of using the claw

This was my very first game of AOS in a nutshell.

[James McPherson]

I think Clawpacks great too I havent used it yet. The scenery rule is nice that comes with it and the double damage on 6's is good too.

But I like that sweet ward save.

Pestilens are hard to play with, I lost most of my games so far. The good thing about taking a big formation is you can drop all your mini's in one go and get the first turn, against ogres that will be helpful. Take the command ability that is -1 to hit on the first turn too

 

[James McPherson]

I'm currently at P:8 W:3 L:5

Two of those losses have come down to not playing the right way against shooting armies.

Haven't faced a single army yet I didn't feel like was 'unbeatable'. Most of my losses have come down to user error and poor generalship on my behalf.

I posted 3 bat reps on my blog recently here

I have another game up next week against Dryads so will post a bat rep.

[James McPherson]

I have a few lists I am working on for Warlords, haven't yet settled on anything, I'd like to know what people think/any comments or advice on what to take/run.

 

List 1 - Foulrain List

1 Verminlord Corruptor, General, Crown of Command, Lord of War

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Lord Skrolk

Plague Priest with Plague Censer, Crown of Command

30 Plague Monks

30 Plague Monks

30 Plague Monks

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Foulrain Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List benefits,

Only 3 drops, so you can choose first turn if needed.

Verminlord command ability will give +1 attack to Plaguemonks which is a pretty essential buff, and 2x magic spells per turn is helpful.

Foulrain Congregation gives a really really nasty shooting presence , with re-rolls to hit and +1 to wound.

Pestilent Clawpack means I cause double damage at rend -1 when I roll 6's to wound with my Plague Monks. A unit of 30 with woe staves will have 180 attacks on the charge, re-rolling wounds, with the correct synergies and buffs

Can take Crown of command 3 times to make all 3 of my Plague Monk units immune to battleshock .

Army forces them to come to you

 

List drawbacks

No chaff/screener units, (would use units of 5 censer bearers normally for that) ,

for the scenario where you need a unit of 5x, you would have a block of 30 plague monks essentially doing nothing all game.

Very simple list with not much tactical depth, could get boring to play.

I favor taking 2x Plague Furnaces normally to get the Priests giving re-rolls to wound on 2 of my units, so only taking 1 is a compromise.

No anvil units, 2x Furnaces make a great Anvil with their 4+ save and 12 wounds each, one anvil won't last long as they draw a lot of fire.

 

List 2 - Dual Furnace List

1 Verminlord Corruptor, General, Crown of Command, Lord of War

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace Crown of Command

Lord Skrolk

Plague Priest with Plague Censer

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Foulrain Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List Benefits and Drawbacks 

As above but with a 2nd Furnace (to give re-rolls to wound, and for an anvil with the other Furnace) at the compromise of taking less Battleline which could be costly.. Costs 1 extra drop making 4 drops in total.

 

List 3 - Dual Plagueclaw List

1 Verminlord Corruptor, General, Crown of Command, Lord of War

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace

Lord Skrolk

Plague Priest with Plague Censer Crown of Command

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

 

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Plaguesmog Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List Benefits/Drawbacks

Same as above except, less shooting threat with no Foulrain Congregation, no more re-rolls to hit or +1 to wound and costs 1 extra deployment slot making 5 drops.

With the addition of the Plaguesmog Congregation at the expense of the Foulrain, I can now screen my delicate glass hammer Plaguemonks with cheap chaffy Plague Censer units on which come on 32mm bases.

Plaguesmog Congregation rules give me a -1 to hit protection against shooting attacks for my chaff and Furnace anvil/synergizer, and also increase my mortal wounds output (D3 wounds on a 2+ to any nearby units per turn)

 

List 4 - No magic but very competitive list

1 Plague Priest with Plague Censer, Crown of Command

1 Plague Priest with Plague Censer, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Foulrain Congregation, Plaguesmog Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List Benefits/Drawbacks

Combination of lists 1 &3 (best of both worlds) except no Verminlord Corruptor, so no magic threat, and no +1 attack command ability. But plenty of chaff to screen my Plague Monks, plenty of mortal wounds, and rend, and plenty of shooting threat. No command abilities on the leaders,

 

 

So those are my lists , what it boils down to is I basically can't decide if I need to take the extra chaff in the list, what this gives me is I badly need screening units and increased mortal wound outputs and the -1 to hit modifier, and the extra Plague Furnace to help synergize, but all this comes at the expense of shooting by going down from the buffs a filthy Foulrain Congregation gives, to just two Plagueclaws (my Plagueclaws are my only -2 rend) and increasing the deployment drops.

Or if I want it all in one list, I have to drop the Corruptor, loose my only magic and play with a 'false 9' in footballing terms (ie without a true General)

 

 

 

 

 

[Shane]

Though I've never used it, the Plague Claw formation is the only thing that has looked like a possible wildcard for competitive play.

With a unit of three firing at the same unit you could deal serious damage - especially if you use a prayer to reroll wounds. So that's reroll hits, reroll wounds, 1 or 2D6 wounds a piece, -2 rend. But that is a lot of points to target one unit. You really need them to be successful every round. Basically pound a target off the board each turn. If they have a unit of 20+ take that out first turn; then go for the general. 

Corruptor is garbage.

Plague Monks are the best unit. Buff and swarm. That's the hope there. 

Could you get Skrolk in list 4? And what could you get for dropping the Bearers?

 

[James McPherson]

7 hours ago, Shane said:

Though I've never used it, the Plague Claw formation is the only thing that has looked like a possible wildcard for competitive play.

With a unit of three firing at the same unit you could deal serious damage - especially if you use a prayer to reroll wounds. So that's reroll hits, reroll wounds, 1 or 2D6 wounds a piece, -2 rend. But that is a lot of points to target one unit. You really need them to be successful every round. Basically pound a target off the board each turn. If they have a unit of 20+ take that out first turn; then go for the general. 

Corruptor is garbage.

Plague Monks are the best unit. Buff and swarm. That's the hope there. 

Could you get Skrolk in list 4? And what could you get for dropping the Bearers?

 

I could make it a second Pestilent Clawpack, but I I'd have to go down to units 10 man Plague Monks in both Pestilent Clawpacks to fit it all in , which could still be an interesting way to play with multiple small units. Or take a Congregation of Filth which is slightly smaller and doesnt require the priest..

I could fit skrolk in if I drop a Plague Priest and a unit of censers. Then I'd come up about 40points shy and get to roll on the Triumph table. Thing is if I make Skrolk my General though, I can't take any abilities as he's a named Character. And I want that sweet +1 to hit for my Plagueclaws or Monks.

Yeah Foulrain looks like Pestilens only real serious way to counter certain well armoured targets, Its the only reliable -2 rend we have. But at 720 points its a big commitment. I already have all 3 painted up and ready to go, I've just never used it in a game.

I've played with 1 Plagueclaw often enough and maybe once per game it will do something useful, but with the buffs from the formation and some prayers from the Plague Furnaces, yeah this is a reliable and legitimate threat to pretty much any unit in the game. It also forces them to come to me which is good. If I want to be a massive s.o.b. I can put two Plague Furnaces side by side with a 6inch gap between them , sideways on , right infront of the Plagueclaws to make a shield wall and force the enemy to attack around the sides (and then get charged by my Monks) or go through the Furnaces first at the front.

The reason I want the Plaguesmog Congregation in is because the Plague Furnace usually sucks up a lot of the shooting I find on the early turns (I often move it 14" with 30 monks around it at the start of the movement phase and plough it headlong into their lines) and it usually gets taken out by turn 2 because people just tend to fire everything they have at it.

If I have the Plaguesmog Congregation, then it makes it -1 to hit, then with the chaos talisman on it and mystic shield, it starts to become a sponge to soak up shooting. People see this big crazy model with a massive scary ball thing on it and think, this is heading straight towards me at 14" per turn, I have to wreck it, when really they don't realise it isn't going to do much at all when it hits because it's so underwhelming.

So it draws all the attention and fire away and lets my Monks run up behind it without drawing any fire or unwanted attention. So its like a Trojan Horse or decoy. The Plaguesmog also gives the mortal wound output of the 'poisonous fumes' ability a buff and makes the chaff units of 5 man censer bearers harder to shoot, so I feel like it's pretty useful. Those 5 man chaff units give my monks a screen and help them get to where they need to be. Also handy for scoring objectives. Its a different play style too, relying more on guile, positioning and combat than just shooting the opponent off the table each turn.

If I dropped the Plaguesmog unit, thats a Furnace, 3x censer bearer units , and the 80pts for the formation, that's 480pts. Enough to take Skrolk and load up on more Monks. It starts to get tricky though when you want to minimise the drops and try to take your picks in formations.

I want to be able to get that first turn against destruction or gunline armies and shoot at the worst units (ie stonehorns) before they get in range to wreck me.

The reason I like the Corruptor is because of his casting, 2 spells per turn is useful, and his speed means you can keep him at the back as a fast re-actionary unit and he can pop up in a supporting role where you need help most. Nothing else has movement 12 in Pestilens. He could even summon a bunch of Plague Drones and run around with them causing trouble as he is a Nurgle, Daemon, Hero. And he is a good way to counter chaff, can make a shooting attack from close range before he charges in which helps take out chaffy units. And his command ability man, Skrolks is good, pick a friendly unit within 13 and its at -1 to hit in close combat. But The Corruptors ability really really helps buff those Monks. He is almost an auto include for me and am gutted I can't fit him into list 4. So almost, but not quite... 

I think you are right about the Monks, taking them as battleline is awesome, possibly the best battleline unit in the game, and supported by the might of a Foulrain Congregation, it's pretty nasty.

[FouZe]

On 8/31/2016 at 9:12 PM, James McPherson said:

I have a few lists I am working on for Warlords, haven't yet settled on anything, I'd like to know what people think/any comments or advice on what to take/run.

 

List 1 - Foulrain List

1 Verminlord Corruptor, General, Crown of Command, Lord of War

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Lord Skrolk

Plague Priest with Plague Censer, Crown of Command

30 Plague Monks

30 Plague Monks

30 Plague Monks

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Foulrain Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List benefits,

Only 3 drops, so you can choose first turn if needed.

Verminlord command ability will give +1 attack to Plaguemonks which is a pretty essential buff, and 2x magic spells per turn is helpful.

Foulrain Congregation gives a really really nasty shooting presence , with re-rolls to hit and +1 to wound.

Pestilent Clawpack means I cause double damage at rend -1 when I roll 6's to wound with my Plague Monks. A unit of 30 with woe staves will have 180 attacks on the charge, re-rolling wounds, with the correct synergies and buffs

Can take Crown of command 3 times to make all 3 of my Plague Monk units immune to battleshock .

Army forces them to come to you

 

List drawbacks

No chaff/screener units, (would use units of 5 censer bearers normally for that) ,

for the scenario where you need a unit of 5x, you would have a block of 30 plague monks essentially doing nothing all game.

Very simple list with not much tactical depth, could get boring to play.

I favor taking 2x Plague Furnaces normally to get the Priests giving re-rolls to wound on 2 of my units, so only taking 1 is a compromise.

No anvil units, 2x Furnaces make a great Anvil with their 4+ save and 12 wounds each, one anvil won't last long as they draw a lot of fire.

 

List 2 - Dual Furnace List

1 Verminlord Corruptor, General, Crown of Command, Lord of War

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace Crown of Command

Lord Skrolk

Plague Priest with Plague Censer

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Foulrain Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List Benefits and Drawbacks 

As above but with a 2nd Furnace (to give re-rolls to wound, and for an anvil with the other Furnace) at the compromise of taking less Battleline which could be costly.. Costs 1 extra drop making 4 drops in total.

 

List 3 - Dual Plagueclaw List

1 Verminlord Corruptor, General, Crown of Command, Lord of War

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace

Lord Skrolk

Plague Priest with Plague Censer Crown of Command

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

 

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Plaguesmog Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List Benefits/Drawbacks

Same as above except, less shooting threat with no Foulrain Congregation, no more re-rolls to hit or +1 to wound and costs 1 extra deployment slot making 5 drops.

With the addition of the Plaguesmog Congregation at the expense of the Foulrain, I can now screen my delicate glass hammer Plaguemonks with cheap chaffy Plague Censer units on which come on 32mm bases.

Plaguesmog Congregation rules give me a -1 to hit protection against shooting attacks for my chaff and Furnace anvil/synergizer, and also increase my mortal wounds output (D3 wounds on a 2+ to any nearby units per turn)

 

List 4 - No magic but very competitive list

1 Plague Priest with Plague Censer, Crown of Command

1 Plague Priest with Plague Censer, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

Plague Furnace, Crown of Command

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

20 Plague Monks

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

5 Plague Censers

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Plague Claw

Formations - Foulrain Congregation, Plaguesmog Congregation, Pestilent Clawpack

 

List Benefits/Drawbacks

Combination of lists 1 &3 (best of both worlds) except no Verminlord Corruptor, so no magic threat, and no +1 attack command ability. But plenty of chaff to screen my Plague Monks, plenty of mortal wounds, and rend, and plenty of shooting threat. No command abilities on the leaders,

 

 

So those are my lists , what it boils down to is I basically can't decide if I need to take the extra chaff in the list, what this gives me is I badly need screening units and increased mortal wound outputs and the -1 to hit modifier, and the extra Plague Furnace to help synergize, but all this comes at the expense of shooting by going down from the buffs a filthy Foulrain Congregation gives, to just two Plagueclaws (my Plagueclaws are my only -2 rend) and increasing the deployment drops.

Or if I want it all in one list, I have to drop the Corruptor, loose my only magic and play with a 'false 9' in footballing terms (ie without a true General)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just bought the SC : Skaven Pestilens yesterday!!!
Thanks for all your tactic and guide James, I can slowly build my pure Prestilens army base from these list.
(Ps. My first game (540pts right out of the box) was really fun as the Plaque claw was on fire and hit in every shooting phase, it was nasty)

[Ferrus65]

Topic you quoted, and this other one:

are mandatory for every pestilens player. I recently started this army too, and on this forum I found a lot of useful informations about tactics and list building

 

[FouZe]

On 10/17/2016 at 5:59 PM, Ferrus65 said:

Topic you quoted, and this other one:

are mandatory for every pestilens player. I recently started this army too, and on this forum I found a lot of useful informations about tactics and list building

 

 

Hi Ferrus, thx for that other topic. very useful and good insight there indeed.

 

I got my second start collecting box from a guy who gave up on Skaven and he sold it to me for half the price.

Now I got a decent 1000pts pure pestilens which won me 3 out of 4 games I played last weekend. The attack again when got killed and exploded on 6 when killed from plague monk is really great, I got charged by SE-Paladin and he does 20 wounds to my monks and that just got 3 of his Paladins killed by the explosion and 1 got killed by 3 return-attack.

[NiallJC1984]

Hi folks

Really glad I found this topic as I'm considering a Pestilens army for this year. Before getting into the nitty gritty of unit choice (I'm pretty set of auto including one Foulrain Congregation so I have 1280 points to play with) I'd like to know how you find this army to play?

i.e. A total PITA to move? I figure if I go for a Congregation of Filth (Furnace plus two units of Plague Monks, 30-40 in size I assume) it will take a long time to deploy and move.

Cheers 

Edit: Following recent FAQ about Battalions/Formations I'm assuming Lord Skrolk can no longer be counted as the Plague Priest for any of the Battalions? 

[James McPherson]

That's correct about Skrolky

I am playing in a tournament next weekend in NZ with 22 players. I wanted to take a full Pestilens list, still debating it , they have movement problems so it can be pretty hard to get the best out of them. When you are using Realmgate rules and playing narrative play they can get accross the table alright, but for the scenarios in the GHB sometimes they aren't reliable enough to get places.

I've had some success playing with some multiple small unit lists recently, but I find it's really useful to reserve 100-220pts for summoning some plaguebearers or plague drones, to help get accross their movement issues.

And in order to do that usually I have to sacrifice the Foulrain.

I normally run 3 big units of 30 in a P.Clawpack and a Foulrain.

Instead now more recently I've started trying to use a P.Clawpack, and spam a load of priests, about 3 or 4, to get those extra +1 to wounds stacking up, I stack like 2 or 3 on one unit just before I attack it with 20 Monks, and it works quite well, killed a bloodthirster like that the other day and narrowly won against an Archaon list. I either do that or take a summing list.

The other thing I stopped doing was taking ONLY large units, because you need smaller ones to screen them off so they don't get charged, and also to run forward and try to capture objectives. So I find a spread of 10, 20 and 30 man units are best, 

At the moment I'm looking at an Alpha Strike list for them, with Sayl and a Warp Grinder team built around a C.O.Filth, as that seems to be the current style of play in the competitive games/meta.

I'd going to try it out next weekend so I'll report back with some pics and stuff.

I was going to take a Foulrain with me to that one , and go vanilla Pestilens but I want to try this out instead.

The thing with the Foulrain is it becomes such a big points investment, you end up having to try to defend it, and Pestilens are better on the front foot throwing them forward, and being in combat, they aren't really a sit back and wait for them to come to you army, because by the time you do that, the chances are you wont have enough time left in the game to capture the objectives and cover board space. You need to be charging forward turn 1 without having to protect your back line too much. A unit of 30 Plaguebearers and Epidemius is perfect for that though if you wanted to mix it up with some Daemons. I've tried that with 2 PC's and it works pretty well.

The other thing about the FOulrain too is it is really REALLY disappointing when you roll a 1, they really hurt to the point where it will ruin your day or your game. So having Epidemius, of the Skaven Cheiftain with Standard on hand to re-roll 1's to hit, and the furnace, epidemius, or the Plaguemonks plague scrolls is a godsend to getting the most out of it. You will find you have to spend another 140-180 points on that as well. 

I was looking at not paying the 100pts for the formation but still taking 3 of them and just buffing them, but its still a big points investment.

 

[Thomas Lyons]

 

On January 18, 2017 at 7:02 AM, James McPherson said:

I am playing in a tournament next weekend in NZ with 22 players....I'd going to try it out next weekend so I'll report back with some pics and stuff.

How did the event go James?  I'm considering how to proceed with my Nurgle forces and have a large block of Pestilens I'm looking to build and paint.  I'd be interested to hear how you faired in the current meta before I begin building stuff.  I've been looking at a mixed Nurgle-Sayl bomb list.  Would love to hear how things went for you this last weekend.

 

[James McPherson]

Things went pretty bad , I lost all games, 3 major losses and 2 minors and came last! I was up every night till 2am painting and working a 60hr week, by the time the event came I was so tired I couldn't really play but I went along anyway and gave it a shot. I painted 30 Clanrats, a WLC , 2x Warpfire Thrower teams and a warp grinder team all in 5 days, after work in the evenings. I ran those with Sayl, and the Pestilens stuff I took was 1x VLC (general). 2x PF, 2x 30 PMonks , and 100 pts for summoning. If I hadn't been so tired I think I would've won maybe 3 or 4 out of the 5, I found the mortal wounds from the skyre stuff combined with the PMonks, made for one super killy army, total glass cannon though so had to get every single move perfect and timed right, and in tired inexperienced hands was just too much for me, but it def had potential.

1st game I played Warrior Brotherhood, I let my opponent grab all 4 objectives turn one, and was so excited to shoot my WLC I forgot my own movement phase. That game was a write off..playing WH at 8am in the morning is always hard. I battled back to almost a draw , highlight was 30 P Monks popping up back lines with the WG weapon team and getting a high charge roll at the perfect time and murdering some liberators.

The WLC and WF throwers did pretty well , but in the end I felt like I lost some of my strengths/compromised and watered down my original Pestilens army too much to bring in the mortal wounds output and it perhaps wasn't worth it, or perhaps at least I needed more games to get used to playing the new army, it is very very fragile, and you have points invested in so much damage output you have to be really careful when to commit . The Warp Grinder team was pretty useful, I think two or three times I made the 9" charge, more often than not actually and popped up behind the back lines which was really nice/helpful, but without any buffs or inspiring presence on them they usually died within a turn which felt like a bit of a waste of a big unit of 30, one game they failed to appear at all which was pretty infuriating. I found putting BOTH prayers from the PFurnace, then using Sayl +Inspiring Presence +1 attack from the VLC and then flying 30 P Monks into the enemy (and throwing the PF up 15" behind them so it's in range to give re-rolls to charge) was really powerful and I pulled it off once, but if an opponent is clever he will just retreat out of combat with them and either shoot them or wait for them to loose their buffs before engaging them. It was a neat party trick but maybe a bit too gimmicky/gamey to rely on too much. like maybe once a tournament you get an opportunity to do it kinda thing.

I found Sayl's 10" reach for the Traitors Mist is really annoying , means you have to really nail your deployment well if you want to have him in cover + make more than say 1 unit fly per game, I kept accidently deploying him out of range due to being an idiot/ too tired to remember all my rules/ unfamiliarity with a new army. A BW vortex would help a lot with that.

The prayer the PF gives to a unit to pile in and attack with one of its weapons when it dies proved pretty useful in one game against Temple Guard, and helped me wipe out a unit of 10 and an Eternity Warden which almost tipped the game in my balance. Having the 100pts spare to summon a shield/ screen of PBearers was useful too. I find the opponent forgets you have it, and you can use to grab an objective when they aren't expecting it if you hold it back late game.

Meta wise I found it was a smattering of STE/ Warrior Brotherhood and Sylvaneth & BCR and TK but as I was firmly on the bottom table all weekend I played some perhaps more unconventional lists like Seraphon and Beastmen.

I want to experiment with Censer Bearers screened by Plague Bearers in my next games, I have another small narrative tournament on this coming weekend with about 10 players and am running an all pestilens allegiance list, but with 220pts for summoning Nurgle Daemons as a screen or objective grabbers. I will write up how that goes

I think having Sayl is useful, but I felt like I maybe took too much Skyre stuff so if I ran a list with him in again I'd probably just take him and maybe 3x 10 plaguebearers, then fill up on Pestilens stuff.  Or maybe just take him in more his natural habitat with Tamurkhan and loads of Plague Toads in more narrative/fluffy games.

I find footslogging it across the table is fine (and I'll probably go back to that with my Pestilens tbh), as long as you have enough/multiple units, because you need to screen your big ones with smaller 10 man ones, and you also need multiple run rolls, because some will always be low , so you need several units to balance that out into averages a bit smoother so when you roll a 1 it doesnt impact as much as it would do if you only had two or three units running forward.

I'll add some more photos on my blog, let me know how you get on as well. I'm looking at Plague Toads at the moment as well as a screen for future games, but haven't gotten that far yet, I like the large base size, low points cost, movement, and 4+ ward save, Units of 6-9 would take up so much board space and work as great screens, so far I got about 16 of the little dudes....

[sal4m4nd3r]

On 7/5/2016 at 9:20 AM, polarbear said:

I'm not the smartest from the tactics perspective but Pestilens has one thing going - they look awesome! I love their chubby little bodies.

I wish Plague Monks could count as battleline if you did a Nurgle-aligned army though. 

 

 

I wish this were the case soooo bad. I'm into rotbringers, and being able to use pestilens without a demon (plagebeaer) go between for battle line would be AWESOME! Pestilens are like the perfect compliment to rotbringers in terms of strategy, and aesthetically I LOVE them.